The phrase "except for the first time" is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
You can use it when you want to talk about a situation that happened more than once but not the first time. For example: "I always make sure I double-check my work, except for the first time when I let my mistake go undetected."
It was like a homecoming -- except for the first time in our lives, we walked onto the deck as bona fide tourists, shedding the nervous sheen that came with being sneaky.
Except, for the first time all series, the joke was on Australia.
As I contemplate my own Apple TV, untouched except for the first time I turned it on, only to be completely underwhelmed, I wonder: who really uses Apple TV, and what's the outlook for the technology?
Here, we found that solB is downregulated under butyrate stress, except for the first time point (15 min post stress).
Except that, for the first time, their support has helped something marginal cross over into the mainstream.
Our first local contract was nothing to brag about except that for the first time compensation was based on equity, not whim, and hiring practices were made transparent.
Except for the first time-series file, the four remaining time-series files are for time-series classification and clustering, but not time-series subsequences matching.
Collection took, on average, 13 min (between 11 and 15 min, except for the first time-point of the dry season, which took 18 min).
The Gillmor Gang — Robert Scoble, Danny Sullivan, Kevin Marks, and Steve Gillmor — talked patents and PR, Spotify, and everything except Google+ for the first time in weeks.
Grade 2 or worse nonhaematological toxicities led to cessation of 5FU treatment until resolution of toxicity followed by a dose reduction of 5FU except for PPE developing for the first time after 10 weeks of therapy, where treatment was initially recommended at the original starting dose.
Except, as many people learned for the first time last year, it did not — at least not in the country itself.
