I agree with Will, Tag and others that your readings are fine, just different. I know the discomfort in having a higher pressure with an old motor and oil pump combo vs new. Similar my rebuild, the pressure readings are different from the old to new combination (lower) and about the same as yours. 25K or so later, the readings are the same and oil samples are good.
Was the Melling pump the same model you pulled out of the motor before rebuilding? I've got another question that would probably de-rail the thread so I'll save it for later.
Oh, and do not sell yourself short. For a "Novice" you're way ahead of this true novice (at least where diagnosing and addressing this type of issue) in that you noticed the pressure drop, caught it in time, did the research, identified the cause, made corrective actions (essentially rebuilt the motor) did the right thing and replaced the oil pump in the process, put it all back together, performed the prestart w/o glow plugs as advised by the 100lbs heads on the forum, and then, the sucker started. Big Cudo's from a real Novice.