Rocky Mount, N.C. — A Nash County family had a terrifying day Sunday, but one that ended OK after 3-year-old twins nearly drowned in a backyard swimming pool.

The boys were recovering in the pediatric intensive care unit at Pitt Memorial Hospital in Greenville. Joshua Hickson was listed in good condition, and Jacob Hickson was in serious condition on Monday afternoon.

Authorities said that their mother's quick thinking helped save the boys' lives.

Tracey and Tony Hickson had arrived in North Carolina from Maryland on Saturday and were moving into their house near Rocky Mount on Sunday. The boys had been running around noisily all morning, Tracey Hickson said, but then it got quieter.

Somehow, the boys had managed to open a fence gate that they had been unable to defeat before.

"I seen that gate open and that's when I said, “Oh my God!" Tracey Hickson said. She found her twins floating in the pool.

"I immediately jumped in,” Tracey Hickson said. “I picked them up, started trying to resuscitate each one, which is really hard because, it's like, which one do you resuscitate first?”

Joshua and Jacob, the youngest of nine children, were floating face down when their mother found them. Both were unconscious.

Tracey Hickson did cardio-pulmonary resuscitation as Tony Hickson called for help.

"I feel fortunate that she found them in time to get them conscious and breathing – and she knew mouth-to-mouth, and that helped a lot, too,” Tony Hickson said.

"They've never been able to open that gate, so that wasn't a concern,” Tracey Hickson said. The boys got past the gate this time, however, and onto a wooden deck that leads to the pool.

The Nash County Sheriff's Office is ruling the incident an accident. The parents call it nothing short of a miracle.

"I thank God, and anyone who doesn't believe in God – trust me, there is a God, definitely,” Tracey Hickson said.