This is repository is an example of how to use ts-node programmatically
It also has nodemon as a dependecy which will watch the lib directory and restart the server on save.
To start the server, all you need to do is npm run start right now. This will use nodemon and restart the server whenever anything under lib changes
If you are not using nvm yet. You should do so asap! Its the defacto solution to developing multiple node.js projects without the different node versions headache.
If you already have it, just run the nvm use command and it will use the version listed in .nvmrc if you don't, checkout their repo! This project uses 8.9.4 but you can change that version to something that fits your needs !