I have been waiting for my waiver for almost 2 years and I think I can share my opinion and hopefully give you advice:
1) Yes, your trips go towards your requirement no matter how far apart they are.
2) Your visa won't get denied but it will be refused until you have satisfied the requirement. You will be given one year since the date of the interview to obtain the waiver. I am not sure if you can complete your residency requirement by just returning to the home country after the interview though. That is something you need to clarify with the consular post.
3) If your visa was sponsored by your country's government and it is reluctant to waive it- you can still apply for other types of waiver such as: exceptional hardship. You do not need your country's permission for such a waiver, all you need to prove is that your partner, who is a U.S. citizen, will suffer tremendously should you (or both of you) go back to your home country to serve the requirement. Bad news is that it takes about 2 years to receive a waiver, good news is that I know one person who is married to a military guy and they managed to expedite the case and she got her waiver within 3 months of applying or so.
VICTORIA PIKE reacted to jjj20 in NEED HELP ABOUT 2YYR FOR FORMER J1 VISAS