| Hi Angie,
I have less problem with bruising on my upper arm (near my shoulder and on the palm of my hand (at the base of my thumb). However, even if i don't bruise, i still have a little red dot that can stay for weeks. Consequently, i usually test on my fingers.
For the amount of blood, rub the area to make sure that the blood is circulating, make sure your lancet device it at the deepest depth and don't only hold the device down, but pump it up and down a bit. With this technique, i have never had problems with the size of the droplet. Another point is that there are meters now that require less blood than the Ultra - the Freestyle and the new BD meter that comes with Paradigm pumps both only use 0.3µL compared to the 1µL of the Ultra.
Andrea | 
