Mom always seems to know best.
 
That's why Cal beach volleyball coach Meagan Owusu had to cut short a recent phone interview; she sensed Ruthie was about to start crying. Or maybe it was Louie. Or maybe it was Henry.
 
Owusu is a new mother. Her triplets were born on March 28, but she's already got the instincts down. Maybe it comes from years of coaching, which is her normal.
 
However, the last year has been anything but normal for the Owusu family.
 
"My husband (Former Cal football defensive end Ernest Owusu) and I were absolutely thrilled when we found out we were pregnant," Meagan Owusu said. "We were in the doctor's office and we saw three sacks, and I looked at my husband first. My immediate reaction was to look at him and see if he was OK and happy. When I saw that he was, I was thrilled."
 
Since that moment, there has been a lot that hasn't gone to plan. Owusu was planning on coaching the first half of the 2020 season before handing the reins to associate head coach Derek Olson.
 
Owusu drove down to San Diego for the Bears' preseason training camp in January. The team was planning on spending five days preparing for the season and bonding while staying at a couple of local players' houses.
 
"I actually drove down to San Diego and was planning on being there for training camp, but that's not what the babies had planned," Owusu said "There were some complications, and the doctors told me that it was time to stop coaching and I came back to Berkeley before training camp started. That's kind of when I realized this isn't just going to be a standard pregnancy and I have to take more care of my body, and be a little bit more cautious than I was expecting."
 
Everything had changed for Owusu. Instead of spending time preparing for what was expected to be the best season in the program's history, Owusu's days consisted of resting, swimming and doctor's appointments - lots of doctor's appointments.
 
Owusu had an appointment every week and each one was three times as long as it would be for one baby. So for a normal one-hour appointment, Owusu needed three hours for the doctors to check in on her three babies.
 
Knowing that she was undertaking a high-risk pregnancy that could force changes in plans unexpectedly, she alerted the Cal administration that she was pregnant after only 12 weeks.
 
"Derek is phenomenal and our entire support staff is outstanding; the girls didn't skip a beat," Owusu said. "The second that I mentioned that I was having triplets, the administration called in and asked, 'How can we support you? How can we make this work?' Jim has been checking in with me before and after the birth. I know how lucky I am to have that administration and support staff that supports mothers. "

Cal's administration wasn't the only group that supported Owusu. As soon as some of the mothers on other Cal coaching staffs heard, they reached out to offer advice and support when Owusu needed it.
 
"I didn't have to reach out to coaches. The second they found out, they we're reaching out to me," Owusu said. "It just really warms my heart. We have a really good support system here at Cal, both with administration, but also just with us coaches. (Cal volleyball associate head coach) Jenn Dorr and (Cal women's soccer assistant coach) Cori Callahan both have twins and they both reached out to me and said 'you got this'.
 
"Being in the Cal volleyball family (Meagan was a four-year player for the Cal Volleyball team and a captain on the 2010 Final Four squad), I've known Jenn for years. I've been relying on her. I'll text her all hours of the day with random things and she's been extremely helpful."
 
The support has been invaluable because having triplets during normal circumstances would be hard. However, the triplets were born 11 days after the shelter-in-place order to combat COVID-19 went into effect for Alameda County.
 
"There were a lot of precautions in the hospital," Owusu said. "While it was a challenge navigating the precautions, we were so grateful that there were so many restrictions. "We knew that the babies were safe because of all the precautions that were taking place. The nurses and doctors were absolutely phenomenal and really made us feel like we weren't giving birth to triplets in the middle of a pandemic. We are really filled with gratitude for the people and the entire experience we had at California Pacific Medical Center, even though it was a challenge."
 
There was some concern at first that Ernest wouldn't be allowed in the delivery room, something they both wanted to avoid. Luckily, they were able to figure that out. However, there were some complications with the pregnancy and Meagan had to be rushed to the ICU after losing three liters of blood during the birth.
 
After 24 hours, Meagan was reunited with Ernest and the triplets. However, no other family members were allowed to see the babies in the hospital. To this date, only Meagan's mom, Laura, has been able to hold the babies as she started sheltering-in-place alongside Meagan and Ernest.
 
Family members have been dropping off food at their front door and finding ways to support the family while maintaining social distance.
 
Six weeks after the triplets were born, Meagan is rightfully exhausted. Her days consist of constant 90-minute cycles of feeding, changing and sleeping. What does she do in the precious few moments where Henry, Louie and Ruthie are all sleeping?
 
"I find myself just staring at them. Being a mom is something that I've been looking forward to for so long. It's really all that it's hyped up to be."