i have uthgerd the unbroken, but is it possible for me to have more than 1 and a better follower?

better as in, packs more of a punch or ideally a mage?

"better follower" would depend on what you think is wrong with Uthgerd and how you are supplying and using her.

I prefer Mage followers because they are less likely to get in the way all the time.

If you want a melee follower with a nice bum then...

Mjoll the Lioness is one of the very few followers who cannot die.

I use random Dark Brotherhood Assassins and make sure that they are equipped with really good stuff. My Assassin Follower has been with me for almost 40 hours of gameplay now, and she's still kicking ass. She is rocking an Ebony Sword (1H), and an Ebony Bow that is enchanted to drain health.

And even if she should happen to die, I can always just run back to the Dawnstar Sanctuary and get another one real quick.

Head to the College in order to get a mage.

You can have multiple followers, but it takes some doing and it can get tedious. If you are unhappy with Uthgerd (I didn't like her either, can't really put a finger on why), go for Mjoll for a tank. Use Faendal if you want your follower to stay back, or the mage initiate from Winterhold.

If you just want additional punch, a dog and a horse will help outdoors. The horse can't go inside, and dogs are insufferable in close quarters, so I don't recommend this for quests that go underground/inside.

The best method to get a large group is this: Do the Main Quest until you get Esmer out of jail and have to walk to the Sky Temple. Stop the quest there, and go back to what you were already doing. You will now have yourself, Uthgerd, Esmer, and Delphine as a squad. You can add a dog pretty easily, and even add a thrall or atronarch if you have the skill/spell. You could conceivably have a fighting party of seven, as Esbern will often call a Flame Atronarch to fight with him. Yourself, your atronarch/thrall, Uthgerd, Esbern, Esbern's atronarch, Delphine, and dog. All of these can fight indoors/underground. Add an eighth by getting a horse.

A mage? Go to Dawnstar, and stop the town's nightmares. The bloke you do that with is an immense mage follower.

There is a powerful mage in Dawnstar named Eronder that will follow you after you complete a quest for him. The quest is interesting too, not just your average fetch quest.

He's the best companion I've found so far, he isn't annoying at all, and his comments are actually interesting or funny rather than annoying. He's also tough, and a powerful mage, although he isn't bad at melee combat either.

Another vote for Mjoll. I liked it so much, I put a ring on it. She's literally unstoppable with a good-damage 2H weapon, and some solid armor.

She is highly controllable through equipment management too. Take away her two hand, and give her a bow, and she'll stay back and run it. I have her in all Deadric, with Deadric two handed, and a Deadric bow with Deadric arrows, and I can go make a sandwich if I want to mid-battle.

edit; Her quest is amazing too. It was the first time I had been in that environment, or faced that type of boss. Epic.

mjoll it is

thanks for the advice guys.. gonna go and visit her and explore riften for a while, will then get on to the main quest and follow ayers advice

The mage I have always used is Marcurio from the Bee and Barb in Riften. He's never let me down but I have never tried another mage follower so this Mjoll person is probably better...

Mjoll is not a mage. Two handed, heavy armor, Imperial supporter (not that it matters if you marry her before you do the rebellion quests, it may affect marriage if you try after (?))